IUP graduate and her family killed in D.C. plane crash
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- An Indiana University of Pennsylvania graduate, her husband and their two daughters were among those killed when an American Airlines plane and Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair in D.C. on Wednesday night.
In a statement, IUP Assistant Vice President for University Advancement Jennifer Dunsmore said the school shares in the nation's grief and heartbreak over the tragedy that killed 67 people.
"It touches us very personally, as this loss includes members of the IUP family, Donna Smojice Livingston, her husband, and their two daughters," Dunsmore said.
"As an IUP community, we join the Livingstons' family and friends in mourning their passing and all the lives lost in this accident."
Livingston used to live in Johnstown, where most of her family still resides, CBS affiliate WTAJ reported, citing sources. Her husband Peter and 14-year-old Everly and 11-year-old Alydia were also killed, WTAJ said.
Family friend Cassandra Atkins told WTAJ she designed several skating outfits for the girls, and while they had never met in person, she kept up with the Livingstons on a regular basis.
"Donna was just like the most perfect mom," Atkins said. "She really was. Like I said before, those girls were everything to her, the center of her whole universe."
Crash rocks western Pennsylvania figure skating community
Sixty passengers and four crew were on board the American Airlines plane that collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers near the Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night. Officials said everyone on both aircraft died.
Top figure skaters from the United States and Russia were on board American Eagle Flight 5342, traveling back from a national development camp in Wichita, Kansas.
Sixteen-year-old Sara Sebring, who trains at the ice rink at Robert Morris University, says she personally knew six of the figure skaters who died in the crash. She said she competed against some and trained with others.
She said she was feeling "sadness for my friends that I know have lost people, my friends that have lost coaches, for family, just deep sorrow."
Rachel Lane-McCarthy said she was on her way to teach lessons at the rink Thursday morning when she heard the news. She said she personally knew one of the coaches who died.
"I gave my skaters a lot of hugs today," she said. "Let them cry. I cried with them. I don't know how anyone is gonna deal with this, I mean we're just gonna be strong for each other."
In 1961, the entire U.S. figure skating team was killed in a plane crash in Belgium while on their way to the world figure skating championships. Pittsburgher Bob Mock, a Professional Skaters Association Hall of Fame coach and former U.S. Figure Skating board member, said that crash devastated the sport. He believes figure skating is facing a similar situation now.
"I think that if everybody could just say a prayer for the skating community right now, I think that would be very important," he said.
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